


Lost and Found

by TitanFodder



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-14 14:13:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11209734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TitanFodder/pseuds/TitanFodder
Summary: Once upon a time, there were two boys who were deeply in love, but lived worlds away from each other. One was shy and innocent, the other was sweet and fearless. While the two may have seemed like polar opposites (and acted like it sometimes), they shared a similar love for a certain video game. Now, what would happen should these two find themselves lost in the world of their favorite game? That is where our story begins…





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Balthierfan6828](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Balthierfan6828).



_Once upon a time, there were two boys who were deeply in love, but lived worlds away from each other. One was shy and innocent, the other was sweet and fearless. While the two may have seemed like polar opposites (and acted like it sometimes), they shared a similar love for a certain video game. Now, what would happen should these two find themselves lost in the world of their favorite game? That is where our story begins…_

_\---_

“Something about the rat situation around here… they just refuse to die…” Vaan sheathed his sword once again, after killing a few more sewer rats.

 

“I do hope you’ll be done soon, I hate how filthy I get being down here.” Balthier continued to complain, as he always did when he encountered something dirty.

 

“You said the same thing the first time we had sex, and guess what? My answer is still gonna be ‘let me finish, you selfish bastard’.”

 

Balthier chuckled a bit to himself. Vaan wasn’t wrong, in fact those were the exact words. But if he had known that night that the younger male was going to take forever (or was just that inexperienced), he would’ve tried harder to not come so quickly.

 

He wasn’t sure if Vaan was still sore about that, but now really wasn’t a time to ask.

 

They walked through the sewers of Rabanastre quietly, as to not wake anything that might be there, when they stumbled upon a creature unlike any that they’ve ever seen. It was a Hume boy, perched on the ledge of a staircase, unconscious. However, this Hume was wearing clothing the likes of which these two had never seen before. He was clad in a bright purple sweatshirt, black pants, black shirt, and black shoes. The single splash of color that was his jacket really threw them through a loop.

 

The two got closer to examine him. “Is… he dead?” Vaan asked quietly, as if he was afraid of the answer,

 

Balthier frowned and knelt down on the stairs, placing two fingers on the boy’s neck. “I don’t feel anything… but sometimes you just can’t feel a pulse, even when they have one.” He then pulled a small knife out of one of his side pockets and held it to the boy’s nose. Vapor from his breath condensed on the blade. “He’s alive. Still breathing.”

 

“What should we do about it?”

 

Balthier stood up. “About him being alive? Well we could always—“

 

“No! I meant what do we do with him now that we know he’s alive? We can’t just leave him here, ‘Thier.”

 

“Uh, yes we can. Of course, I was thinking put him out of his misery first but you didn’t want that.” Balthier crossed his arms over his chest.

 

“C’mon, let’s take him up to the surface and get him help.” Vaan pawed at the boy’s arm, and Balthier thought the two shared some similarities in appearance.

 

He sighed inwardly. “Fine. But I’m only doing this so he’ll owe me in the future.”

 

With that, the two grabbed the young man they found and proceeded back up to Rabanastre.

\---

“Come on Basch, are you even looking?”

 

“I’m looking, I can assure you…” He scratched the back of his head. “I’m just not finding any.”

 

“I see some.” Fran spoke up for the first time since they started searching for Galbana Lilies in the Estersand outside Rabanastre. It was Penelo’s idea to get some Galbanas for Vaan since he’s been in a bad mood lately. She thought it would cheer him up.

 

“Great!” She and Basch followed as Fran lead them a short distance away. She was right as always; a plethora of Galbana lilies were waiting to be picked. “Vaan will be so pleased.”

 

Basch smiled a bit to himself. The way those two cared about each other made him happy.

 

While Penelo helped herself to as many flowers as she could get her hands on, Fran and Basch had been scanning the area for any potential trouble. It was then that Fran had noticed a Hume-like body lying in the sand not far from them, likely unconscious and injured. It wasn’t until Basch looked to Fran that he noticed the man.

 

“Who is that?” He asked, now catching Penelo’s attention.

 

“I don’t know… let’s go look. Maybe he needs help.” Penelo started walking towards him only to be stopped by a firm hand on her arm.

 

“Allow me, for your safety.” Basch said as he pulled his sword from its sheath. “Some thieves are known to pretend to be hurt or knocked out so as to appear approachable, then attack once they’ve gotten you in close. This may be one of those cases.”

 

“I highly doubt that, but if you insist.”

 

Basch moved toward the man with caution. He looked him over and started feeling bad for assuming the man was some sort of fiend. The man didn’t move whatsoever, and his clothing didn’t suggest that he was hiding any weapons. After looking him over, he looked to Fran and Penelo. “Should we do something about him?”  
  
“He looks hurt… Maybe we should take him back to town with us.” Penelo said as she got a closer look. “I don’t think he’ll make it out here on his own.”

 

“Agreed,” Basch said, and he heaved the man over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

 

“I know not how the others will feel about this…” Fran said quietly, in not so many words as is her way.

 

“I’m sure they’d want us to help him out. I mean, isn’t that how we all became friends to start with?” Penelo looked down at her feet. “The strength of one person doesn’t really amount to much, but with what little power I have, I want to protect others, and in turn they can protect those that they care about. Don’t you think it’s the least we tiny Humes can do for each other?”

 

No one was going to argue with her. They knew she was right.

 

“Let us be off then.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Well, looks like we have two of ‘em now.”

 

In Vaan’s room of the Strahl (the only free room left as Balthier and Vaan now shared the captain’s quarters), the two guys that the group found earlier had been laid side by side on the bed. Fran, being the most experienced healer of the group, had looked them over for injuries, curing what needed to be cured. And when Ashe had returned from Rabanastre’s market district, they had a discussion about what to do with them.

 

“Who would’ve thought we’d find two people in need on the same day?” Penelo said thoughtfully.

 

“Odd. Not uncommon, but odd…” Basch said as he ran his fingers over the arm of the younger male, feeling the soft purple fabric of a plush sweatshirt that was probably killing the boy to wear, given the heat of the desert. It was then that a small, somewhat pained moan came from the boy, and startled his hand away.

 

The blonde boy had a little trouble waking at first; as Basch had predicted before, it was hot in his sweatshirt, and the heat made it hard for him to wake. His eyes cracked open, his hand instinctively moving to his face to shield them from the light, and he lied there, trying to adjust.

 

Basch leaned over to look at the boy under his hand. “Are you alright?”

 

“… hot…” he moaned a little more, pushing himself to sit up.

 

The older male hooked one arm underneath him as a support. “Here, hold still,” he said gently, helping the boy get his jacket off. Underneath the jacket was a black short-sleeved shirt with way too much glitter on the front. It was a lot lighter than the jacket was, if nothing else.

 

“So I’m only going to ask once; who are you and where can we drop you?” Balthier said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

 

“You’ve got to be joking,” Ashe looked to the pirate and crossed her arms over her chest.

 

“What? I’ll make sure to drop them off over an ocean or something, so that they don’t get hurt that much.”

 

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Vaan said, frowning slightly. “Besides, this one looks like me. It might be my doppelganger! And the other kind of looks like you, only with a bit of a beard…” He moved over to the other man, who was still unconscious, and touched his face slightly. “Hey ‘Their, why don’t you let your facial hair grow a bit?”

 

“I would prefer not to. While I do think he’s got a charming appearance, I don’t believe it’s a good idea to have these guys here. We still know nothing about them.”

 

“Well you can always just ask,” the boy said. “I’m Ren. I don’t remember where I’m from, so I guess you can drop me off anywhere, honestly.”

 

“No, we can’t do that to you,” said Penelo. “You’ll stay with us!”

 

“Now, now, little lady, what makes you think you’re allowed to make these decisions?” Balthier looked down at her, his lips pressed in a firm line.

 

She looked at Vaan with big doe eyes. Unfortunately, Vaan has never been able to resist the doe eyes. And she knew Balthier couldn’t resist Vaan.

 

Vaan looked at Balthier. “Please? It might be really good for all of us. After all, strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet, right?”

 

Balthier frowned, obviously disappointed in what he was about to say. “Fine. They can stay.”

 

“Great!” Vaan smiled, then looked at Ren. “Oh, by the way, we found a black bag next to you in the sewers. Maybe it’s yours?” He grabbed a backpack sized duffle bag from the corner of the room and handed it to Ren.

 

He really didn’t know what to do. Was this bag his? It seemed familiar, if nothing else. He opened one side of it and pulled out some papers, some of which had drawings on them and others that had been job applications to different places. He looked them over. _Karena? What kind of name is…?_

 

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

 

He flipped through the papers as it all started coming back to him, then he looked over himself, feeling every inch of his body in a fevered panic.

 

“Ren? Ren, what’s wrong?” Of course, Basch was concerned for the boy.

 

The young blonde took a bunch of shallow breaths, not quite hyperventilating but not far from so. Tears started spilling over his cheeks, and he covered his mouth to muffle the sounds threatening to come out. “I can’t believe… I forgot…”

 

From the side, the other man had started to awaken. His condition was quite similar to Ren’s, and when he had gotten Ren’s attention, he quirked his head. _Where have I seen this guy before…?_ He pulled a few pictures out of his bag and compared them to the man next to him.

 

_Grey…?_

 

No sooner did the man have his eyes open that Ren had firmly planted his lips on him. Much to everyone’s surprise. Ren couldn’t help it, though. Albeit all the crazy shit that had happened in the span of a single day, he had wanted to do this for far too long, and certainly wasn’t going to waste this opportunity; after all, who knew how long they really had there.

 

The other man’s eyes had widened considerably. He really didn’t understand what was going on, other than he had awoken to a teen boy attacking his mouth. Ren pulled away from him and covered his mouth once again, tears spilling down his cheeks as the full gravity of what happened hit him.

 

“Who…? What’s going on?” He sat up, his eyes scanning the room. The group had now been thoroughly confused by Ren’s actions; it confused himself to an extent as well. But the person most confused was the man on the bed next to him.

 

“Grey?”

 

The man quirked an eyebrow. “Yeeees,” he said slowly. “And you are…?”

 

Looking at his physical appearance, Ren frowned. Of course Grey wouldn’t recognize him. He went through years worth of physical change in the course of a single night. He flipped through his bag until he had found a picture of a girl who looked eerily similar to himself. “Grey, it’s me.” He showed the other the picture, and an expression of slow recognition crept onto his face.

 

“Karena? But… what happened? You changed so quickly…” He held onto the other’s shoulders and looked him over.

 

“Please, it’s just Ren. And I don’t know really, but I’m not complaining.”

 

Balthier looked at the two, who obviously forgot they were there. “I think there’s a lot of explaining to be done here.”


	3. Chapter 3

That night, Ren and Grey laid in the bed they now shared in Vaan’s old room. Since Penelo thought it would be “neat” for them to stay with them (and they thought it was kind of cool too), they had to explain that they were from another world. Grey thought it best not to tell them that they were fake or they were just video game characters, and Ren agreed. From all the scenarios that played out in their heads, nothing good came from any of them.

 

And now, they laid in the peacefully quiet, dimly lit room in the middle of the night. However, excitement and eagerness overtook the feelings of exhaustion and fatigue, so they lied awake, talking softly.

 

“I’m scared, you know.” Ren said quietly.

 

“Oh? Of what?”

 

“Of touching you. Of being close to you.”

 

Grey’s lips formed a little pout. “Why?” He wrapped his arms tightly around the younger male. “I’m not going to bite… unless you ask me to, I mean.”

 

“No, it’s not that. It’s just… what if this all goes away? I don’t want to get attached to you and your touch if we’re just going to disappear and go home…”

 

“I highly doubt that’ll happen unless we look for a way out.” Grey said softly.

 

“So…” Ren thought out loud. “If we don’t look, we can stay like this forever then, can’t we?”

 

“Probably,” he chuckled at the thought. “But you need to get home eventually, you have people who care for you.”

 

“And you don’t? Listen, I’ve known you for how long now? You think after finally being here with you, after finally getting to be close to you that I’m just going to go home and be alone?” Ren frowned and buried his head in the other’s chest. “Fuck that.”

 

Grey smiled a little to himself, then it faded away. “I hoped you would say that. But I also hoped you would say otherwise.”

 

“Why? Do you not want to be with me?”

 

“No. I just want what’s best for you.”

 

The younger male looked up at the other. “What’s best for me is you.” He leaned up and kissed him gently, pleased when the other kissed him back. Tears started falling down his cheeks, and the older male pulled away.

 

“What’s wrong?” He asked, wiping a rogue tear from Ren’s face.

 

“Fucking hormones… I think.”

 

“Well hush now,” he ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re alright.”

 

“Okay… okay, I’m fine now.” He sniffled and held onto Grey tightly, as if he were going to disappear out from under his nose. “Promise to be here with me tomorrow? I’m so tired… this whole day just…”

 

“I know. I’ll be here if you’ll be.” He kissed the top of the younger man’s head and held him just as tightly. “I love you.”

 

“I love you too.”

 

It was easy for the two of them to get sleep tonight. Despite all the stuff they had been through that day, getting to lay in each other’s arms was worth it.


End file.
